Agartala, November 04, 2022: Almost after 9 years of long wait, the science village named as “Vigyan Gram” of Tripura here in the capital city is in the edge of completion within mid of November, 2022 and likely to be inaugurated with several other projects by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit here on November 17 next.

The foundation stone of the “Vigyan Gram” – a science village in Tripura’s capital city was unveiled in July 2013 by the then Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in presence of former Science, Technology and Environment minister Bijita Nath. She claimed “The central government is expected to provide Rs 62 crore for the science village project and to be built within 5 years. Land of 12.42 acres had been allotted for the project.”

Thereafter, the then Secretary of the Ministry of DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region) R Vijay Kumar in July 2015 paid a visit in Tripura for three days to take a stock of ongoing projects funded by the ministry and he visited construction activities of “Vigyan Gram” at Siddhi Ashram area here in Agartala city.

Later on, after the formation of BJP-led coalition government in Tripura, the then Science, Technology and Environment minister Sudip Roy Barman in the assembly session on June 22, 2018 informed that the central government had sanctioned Rs 27 crore 45 lakh 40 thousand and state government released Rs 20 crore for construction of the “Vigyan Gram”.

The Director of Tripura’s Science, Technology and Environment department Animesh Das said that the construction work of the “Vigyan Gram” is at the final stage. “The construction is based on two aspects- Civil and Exhibit. The Civil part would be totally completed within November 15 next while the Exhibit part is work done in phase manner. However, we are expecting that 50 percent of the halls in this science village will be completed within November”, he added.

Citing further about the Exhibit part in the “Vigyan Gram”, Das said “The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) is the authority to send models for exhibiting in this science city. In this regard, the STE department will prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and later be sanctioned from the central government’s concerned ministry.”

Being asked about the construction work, the Director of STE department said “The work started after 2015. The work slowed down for a while as the agency’s contract reached a stage of termination. However, the matter has been solved by the state Public Works Department within a short period.”

Tripura Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party sources revealed that Prime Minister Modi is all set to visit the poll-bound state in the month of November. Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha told media persons that PM Modi is scheduled to visit Tripura for inaugurating a good number of projects on October 27 last. However, it has been cancelled due to unknown reasons. Now, Modi is likely to visit the state on November 17, who is likely to unveil the project.